For Samford Crimson journalists

College Media Innovation is ramping up for another online content contest:

Multimedia

1. Best audio slideshow – Recognizes excellence in combining photographic images with audio to create an enhanced story. Judges will look for strong visual imagery and strong audio storytelling that integrate well together. Audio must include elements of the story (i.e., not a musical soundtrack to a slideshow).

Submission must include URL for slideshow entry to be judged.

2. Best breaking news video – Recognizes excellence in using short-form video on the web as a storytelling medium video that focuses on a breaking news event, produced by an individual or team.

Submission must include URL for video entry to be judged.

3. Best video package – Recognizes excellence in using longer-form video on the web as a storytelling medium video, produced by an individual or team.

Submission must include URL for video entry to be judged.

4. Best overall multimedia – Recognizes excellence in use of audio, video, hyperlinks and animation in the presentation of web-based stories. Judges will pay special attention to the use of available technology to complement and enhance the story content.

Submission must include URL for site to be judged.

And a whole lot more at the link. Which of these do you see the Crimson competing for?

Students watch Sen. Barack Obama's speech.

While Sen. Barack Obama was on stage turning into the president-elect The Samford Crimson newsroom was covering the event locally.

Just a few minutes after he walked off the stage the Email alert was shipped out and a story was uploaded that included a photograph, seven paragraphs and three quotes in a nice team effort that helped capture Samford’s slice of an historical moment.

Nice job!

We’re going to soon be talking about this a lot. We’ll discuss ways that we can think beyond the newspaper paradigm and how we can use the tools already in place to help you develop audiences, cultivate brands and how that will ultimately help your portfolio.

One such little idea is by using Twitter. Here’s a post from Amy Gahran about Twitter for journalists:

Twitter can be quite an effective radar screen for news or relevant issues.

[...]

Twitter can help you engage people on a personal level, and to demonstrate your interest in them. This is something that, IMHO, many journalists resist — but that can benefit journos and their work significantly once they loosen up about acting like human beings in a public venue.

Twitter is going mainstream now. Early this year I started the Twitter stream at al.com. In a matter of days we had more than a hundred followers — when few people around here were on the service. In the first week we broke two big fire stories via Twitter …

Gahran’s also got tips for how you can get started — which I’d encourage you to do. I’d also encourage you to follow (to follow is to friend if you’re in a Facebook frame of mind) relatively talkative people. Follow those who fall into your interests and they’ll tip you off to ideas and great new things.

Also follow a few people of different and varied interests, just to get a nice slice of the conversation.

You can follow me too, if you like.